USS Arleigh Burke

Uncommon card · No. 133126

USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51), named for Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, USN (1901–1996), is the lead ship of the Arleigh Burke class of Aegis guided missile destroyer. She is of the Flight I variant. She was laid down by the Bath Iron Works company at Bath, Maine, on 6 December 1988; launched on 16 September 1989; and commissioned on 4 July 1991. Arleigh Burke's designers incorporated many lessons learned by the Royal Navy during the Falklands campaign and from the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers. The Ticonderoga-class cruisers were becoming too expensive to continue building and too difficult to upgrade. Arleigh Burke was the first modern destroyer designed with features meant to lower its radar cross-section, which improves a ship's ability to evade radar detection. She also used a slightly downgraded version of the Aegis Combat System, which allows for launching, tracking, and evading missiles simultaneously. Her all-steel construction provides good protection for her superstructure...

Read on Wikipedia · Image U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 2nd Class Patrick Reilly, Public domain